‘A politics that does not contest dominant heteronormative assumptions and institutions, but upholds and sustains them, while promising the possibility of a demobilized gay constituency and a privatized, depoliticized gay culture anchored in domesticity and consumption’ ( L. Duggan 2003 )"

It is these stereotypes that so often ostracize homosexual individuals. People assume that they will fit into a certain category that they have created through the media, not real life knowledge. It is a narrow-minded thinking that we need to work to end. There are just as many types, shapes, sizes and kinds of homosexuals as their are heterosexuals.

What are some stereotypes you find yourself facing? How can we help each other to overome these?

When I was first coming out, I was kicked out of a gay bar for "making people uncomfortable" because "just so you know this is a gay bar". Because I wore a leather jacket and a Metallica shirt, while sitting quietly, alone, drinking a beer, I was not even given the benefit of a conversation before being ostracized by those I was trying to find community with. I find the expectation of many within our community that people present as some sort of stereotype or media trope of what gay is supposed to look like is dangerous and ugly.